Patent Application
20090108592
The present invention is directed to latches which can be used as closures for various items, including, for example, vehicle storage containers.
While there are currently many different types of latches on the market, they all generally suffer from the same Achilles' heel, rigidity. If the shape of the structure to which the latch is attached changes with age, damage, etc., or manufacturing tolerances are off, the rigid latch is unable to compensate for these changes or miscues and will no longer fit into its receiving assembly. Once this happens, the structure will no longer be able to be latched shut. As such, a need exists for a latch which has the ability to compensate for such changes or inaccuracies in the shape of a container.
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a latch assembly for releasably latching two components. The latch assembly includes a latch base and a latch pin, wherein the latch pin is laterally moveable with respect to the latch base.
Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a latch system for a vehicle storage container, where the storage container has an open and closed position and can be moved between those positions. The latch system includes a latch assembly secured to a first portion of the storage container and a receiving assembly secured to a second portion of the storage container. The latch assembly is laterally moveable with respect to the receiving assembly.
In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a vehicle storage container. The vehicle storage container includes a container base, a container lid, and a latch system. The latch system includes a latch assembly secured to the container lid and a receiving assembly secured to the container base. The latch assembly comprises a latch base, and a latch pin, wherein at least a portion of the latch assembly is moveable with respect to the receiving assembly.
Additional embodiments, objects and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent in the detailed description below.
The following detailed description will be more fully understood in view of the drawings in which:
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative in nature and are not intended to be limiting of the invention defined by the claims. Moreover, individual features of the drawings and the invention will be more fully apparent and understood in view of the detailed description.
Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate the same elements throughout the drawings,
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a latch assembly 10 is provided which includes a latch base 12 and a latch pin 16. In a further embodiment, the latch assembly further comprises a dowel 14, (each of the base, pin and dowel are described with respect to components and operation more fully below). The latch base 12, dowel 14, and latch pin 16 can be made of any suitable material, for example, metal, aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, etc. In addition, these components can be any suitable shape, for example, square, rectangle, triangle, circular, oval, elliptical, polygonal, etc. and combinations thereof. Other features can be added to the overall shape of the latch base 12, dowel 14, and latch pin 16, in order to, for example, accommodate means of attachment or functionality. For example, the latch base 12 can have a channel 22 and the channel 22 can facilitate movement of the dowel 14 and latch pin 16 from an up position to a down position and vice versa. Additionally, the ends 26 of the latch pin 16 may be hollow so that they, will fit over the dowels 14 and will allow for the lateral movement of the latch pin 16 with respect to the latch base 12.
The latch base 12 will generally be mounted to one side of a closure, for example, a lid, and can be either fixed or moveable (e.g.
The latch base 12, dowel 14, and latch pin 16 can be moveable in many directions. For example, in one embodiment, the latch pin 16 is moveable with respect to the latch base 12 laterally, vertically, or a combination thereof. The movement in these directions can occur in a straight line or in an angled variation, for instance, the movement could be a combination of horizontal and vertical movement because it is moving diagonally upward or downward. In one embodiment, the latch pin moves laterally in a linear path.
The latch base 12, dowel 14, and latch pin 16 may be attached to their respective components by any suitable means. For example, they may be attached via welds, adhesives, screws, nails, nuts and bolts, clamps, rivets, etc. They may also be attached by the fact that one piece rests over another piece. For example, the ends 26 of the latch pin 16, in one embodiment, are hollow and are slidably attached to the dowels 14 where the hollow ends 26 rest over at least a portion of the dowels 14. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some of these attachment types will be more suited for fixed attachment (for example, welding) while others will be more suited for moveable attachment (for example, nuts and bolts). It should be noted, however, that many of the attachment types listed above can be used for both moveable and fixed attachment, for example, nuts and bolts.
As seen in
As can be seen from the above, the latch assembly 10 can involve many different variations of the latch base 12, dowel 14, latch pin 16, and receiving assembly 32, including, varying materials, shapes, and connections, and still fall within the scope of this application. To simplify the rest of the discussion, the detailed mechanics of the latch assembly 10 (without the receiving assembly) will be described with reference to one particular embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that the invention encompasses other embodiments and other uses in light of the disclosure above and that generally known in the art.
According to one particular embodiment, the latch assembly 10 includes a latch base 12. The latch base 12 is made of aluminum and has a U-shape as can be seen in
As in
Because of the capability of the latch for both manual and self-adjustment, if manufacturing tolerances or damage to the closure make the latch assembly 10 (and thus the pin 16) further away from the receiving assembly 32, the length of the pin 16 will compensate for that change as long as it is not greater than the length of the pin 16. This type of need for self adjustment is often seen in vehicle tool boxes because the user will grab the container base 34 and pull on the container base 34 to slide the toolbox closer to the user. This often results in an outward bowing of the base of the toolbox, the inability of an inflexible latch assembly to compensate for the bowing of the container base, and thus the loss of the ability to latch the toolbox. The ability of the latch assembly 10 to compensate for these types of changes or misalignments without any adjustment of the latch assembly 10 by the user is considered self adjustment. If the user has to adjust the latch assembly 10, this is considered manual adjustment.
In operation, as seen in
Thus, as the container lid 36 is moved toward the container base 34 the user can gauge whether the latch assembly 10 needs to be manually adjusted. If manual adjustment of the latch pin 16 is needed, then the user can loosen a nut 18, slide the latch pin 16 to the new position (either up or down) and tighten the nut 18 to keep the latch pin in the new position. Additionally, when the latch assembly 10 comes into contact with the receiving assembly 32, the latch assembly 10 shifts (either to the left or right) in order to self correct for any misalignment of the latch assembly 10 and the receiving assembly 32. As the latch assembly 10 self corrects, the latch pin 16 pushes against at least one of the opposable sides 38, 40 acting to push the opposable sides 38, 40 apart. The opposable sides 38, 40 slide far enough apart to allow the latch pin 16 to slide between them. Once the pin 16 slides between the opposable sides 38, 40, the two sides return to their original positions and thus releasably engage the latch pin 16. To disengage the latch pin 16, the user can lift the release plate 48 which will pull the opposable sides 38, 40 apart and allow the user to lift the container lid 36 and thus pull the latch pin 16 out from between the two opposable sides 38, 40.
The foregoing description of various embodiments and principles of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventions to the precise forms disclosed. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled the art. Moreover, although multiple inventive aspects and principles have been presented, these need not be utilized in combination, and various combinations of inventive aspects and principles are possible in light of the various embodiments provided above. Accordingly, the above description is intended to embrace all possible alternatives, modifications, aspects, combinations, principles, and variations that have been discussed or suggested herein, as well as all others that fall within the principles, spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the claims.
